COMM002: Media and Society

Course Syllabus for "COMM002: Media and Society"

Do you know what you’re watching? What you’re reading? You might think
that what comes across your television or web browser, in your newspaper
or magazine, or on your movie screen is pretty much the whole message;
what you see is what you get. But the content we see, read, and hear is
the product of complex forces − economic, governmental, historical, and
technological. This course will explore those underlying forces and
provide analytical tools to evaluate media critically. An overall goal
is to become media literate, to gain an understanding of mass media as
cultural industries that seek to influence our behavior and affect our
values as a society. Unit 1 aims to define mass communication, mass
media, and culture. It also will introduce the core concepts of media
literacy and the concept of transmedia, the practice of integrating
entertainment experiences across a range of different media platforms.
Unit 2 will introduce selected theories that will help in analyzing mass
communication and its effects. Subsequent units will explore individual
mediums: books, newspapers, magazines, music and radio, film,
television, the Internet and social media, and electronic games and
virtual worlds. The last unit will discuss issues of media ethics and
the relationship of media to government.

Course Information

Welcome to COMM002: Mass Communication and Society. This course was
designed by Michael O’Donnell, Associate Professor of Communication and
Journalism at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Please read this general information on this course and its
requirements:

Primary Resources: This course is composed of a range of different
free, online materials. However, the course makes primary use of the
following materials:

You will be directed to other resources that will supplement the
material from these sources.

Requirements for Completion: Each of the nine units will include an
exercise and a self-assessment subunit for you to test your knowledge.
When you have completed the exercise and self-assessment, and are
satisfied with your knowledge of a unit, go on to the next one. At the
end of the course, you must take the comprehensive final exam.

Note that you will only receive an official grade on your final exam.
However, in order to adequately prepare for this exam, it is recommended
that you take notes on and work through all course materials.

In order to pass this course, you will need to score 70% or higher on
the final exam. Your score will be tabulated as soon as the exam is
completed. If you do not pass the exam, you may take it again after a
14-day waiting period.

Time Commitment:This course should take you approximately 126
hours to complete, not including the final exam. Each unit includes a
“time advisory” that lists the amount of time you are expected to spend
on each subunit. These should help you plan your time accordingly. It
may be useful to take a look at these time advisories and to determine
how much time you have over the next few weeks to complete each unit,
and then to set goals for yourself. For example, Unit 1 should take
approximately 7.75 hours to complete. Perhaps you can sit down with your
calendar and decide to complete subunit 1.1 (a total of 2.25 hours) on
Monday night; subunit 1.2 and 1.3 (a total of 2.75 hours) on Tuesday;
subunit 1.4 and assessments (a total of 2.75 hours) on Wednesday night;
etc.

Tips/Suggestions:In your everyday life, begin to watch and absorb
media as an active viewer. Think of the media − newspapers, magazines,
movies, radio, television, video games, and social media − as your
learning environment. During the course of this class, when presented
with an example from the media:

apply what you’ve learned from your textbook;

connect the example to other examples; and

look below the surface as a media-literate student and think about
who made the media text and why.

Table of Contents: You can find the course's units at the links below.